


Homesick

by Snow_Siren



Category: Transformers - All Media Types, Transformers Generation One
Genre: Blushing, Bodyguard, Bodyguard Romance, Canon-Typical Violence, Crushes, Dignitary, F/F, Falling In Love, Forbidden Love, Gift, Love Confessions, Minor Jazz, Minor Starscream, Mutual Pining, Outer Space, Slow Build, Slow Burn, Space Flight, Touching, bad at feelings, fic swap, polishing, soft romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-12
Updated: 2021-02-12
Packaged: 2021-03-12 10:15:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,206
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29383332
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Snow_Siren/pseuds/Snow_Siren
Summary: Windblade had to leave Cybertron when the war reached its apex. For eons, it has been just her and her bodyguard, Strongarm. Finally, they have confirmation of where other Autobots are. It isn't home, but at least they're together.
Relationships: Strongarm/Windblade
Comments: 2
Kudos: 3





	Homesick

**Author's Note:**

  * For [CavalierConvoy](https://archiveofourown.org/users/CavalierConvoy/gifts).



> Hi! I wrote this as part of the Cybertronian Card Exchange on Twitter! My Valentine is CavalierConvey!  
> I hope this came out okay! This fic was a lot of firsts for me, including but not limited to:  
> First time writing Strongarm  
> First time writing Windblade  
> First time writing Windblade/Strongarm  
> First time writing wlw  
> First time writing G1  
> First Time writing romance
> 
> Still, it was a lot of fun and I hope you all enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. <3

Windblade looked out the one window on their small escape ship. Distant stars were the only thing in sight. She wondered if any of them knew about Cybertron, the war. She wondered if any of them would respect her titles. 

Aside from Strongarm, no one had cared about a City Speaker in eons. If Windblade was honest with herself, she didn’t care about her ability much anymore either. She couldn’t even remember the last time she had even heard mention of a Titan, much less communed with one. 

“You look lost in thought,” Strongarm said from the command chair. They took turns driving, never quite trusting the autopilot for long periods after one particularly bad incident. 

Windblade glanced over at her assigned bodyguard and longtime friend. “We’re lost in space. Does it matter if I’m lost in thought too?” She sighed. 

Strongarm offered her a small, sad smile. “We’re not lost. We just…”

“Don’t have a concrete direction or destination in mind so we drift aimlessly?” A flourish of her digits towards the stars emphasized her point. At Strongarm’s wince, she felt a pang of guilt and looked away. “I’m sorry, Strongarm. It's just...been so long.” 

Setting up the autopilot for just a moment, she came over and sat down next to her. Strongarm gently touched her hand in an attempt at comfort. “I know. I took an oath when I became your guard, that I would protect you from anything.” She looked down, breaking eye contact. “But I can’t protect you from…” she gestured to the stars, much like Windblade had done earlier, lost at what words to use. 

“You’ve done your job perfectly, Strongarm. Besides, I haven’t looked at you as just my guard in years now.” Windblade said. Truly, she hated the need for a guard at all. She could fend for herself just fine, thank you. She never regretted Strongarm’s company though. In fact, she had only grown more and more fond of her over time. Before Windblade could say anything to ruin the moment, she was saved by an alert from the comms unit. 

Strongarm raced back to the control chair, despite it only taking her two strides to get there. Windblade watched, sitting straight up, as Strongarm read the message, shook her head, and read it again. “My Liege,” Strongarm stood straight, optics shining and a grin painted across her face. She only called Windblade that when she was serious, but clearly there was good news.

Windblade smirked, playing along. “Yes, what is it?” She used an inflection that she hadn’t exercised in years. The one she pulled out for galas attended by the high council or other important figures. 

This caused Strongarm to fight back a laugh as she spoke “We have received a transmission from Autobot forces. And not just any Autobot forces, My Liege, but from Optimus Prime.”

“What?” Windblade jumped to her pedes to check the transmission for herself. “You’re right.” She turned to Strongarm and with no warning embraced her as hard as she could. For a moment she stiffened before returning the affection, though much more gently. 

Windblade, realizing what she had done, pulled away. “I’m sorry, I just got excited.” 

“No, don’t apologize.” Strongarm reassured her, “I’m excited too.”

“Set course for this, Earth. We’re going to see Cybertronians again.”

Strongarm saluted facetiously and set the coordinates. Windblade smiled out at the stars. 

Finally, she would be important to the cause again. 

Unfortunately, they would learn that even though they received the signal. They were nowhere close to Earth. So the stellar cycles passed with the passing theories back and forth on what this Earth could possibly be like. 

“It’s another name for dirt,” Windblade started explaining her newest theory while taking her turn in the pilot seat, “so, there’s got to be a huge farming industry.” 

Strongarm giggled, causing Windblade’s heart to soar. “A whole planet of farmers? You think they’d all be like that one bot, the wrecker, who was an Energon farmer?” She tapped her chin. “What was his name? BigHead?”

“I thought it was Bulk-something,” Windblade said. 

“Bulkhead! That’s it. You think Earth is just going to be made up of mostly bots like him? The country bumpkin type?” Strongarm was barely containing a grin at the ridiculous thought. 

Windblade let out a bark of laughter, not daring to hide her amusement. “That would be something.” A smile still on her face, she continued, “Honestly though, there are worse kinds of people.” 

“You’re right about that,” Strongarm replied wistfully. Their travels had been a grab bag of experiences. Some were good, others not so much. “You don’t think it’ll be like that time we got an Autobot distress signal back in that one tri-solar system do you?” 

“The one that turned out to be a Decepticon trap run by that sadistic, spider-femme?” Windblade shook her head at the thought. Her whole body shook at the memory of webs and fangs and running for her life. 

“Yeah, that one.” Strongarm was equally disturbed by the incident, though she did her best to hide it. It was her job to be the strong one after all. Windblade didn’t need to know about the nightmares. They always resulted in her not being able to help her Liege in time.

“No, I’m sure this won’t be anything like that. I doubt there’s any organic life there anyway. It’s way too far from anything else similar to that.” Windblade said. She kept her nightmares a secret too. They always resulted in losing Strongarm when she was trying to protect her, do her job when all Windblade wanted was for her to get to safety. Strongarm didn’t need to know that though. She glanced over to see Strongarm biting her cheek. “At worst they’ll probably be silicone based.” 

This time Strongarm let out a sharp barking laugh, “Like those Hortas?”

“Oh yeah. It’s a big rock after all. Only makes sense.” Windblade saw Strongarm smile and mirrored her. 

Whatever happened, they’d be okay as long as they had each other. 

  
  


************************************

A fragile hope had wormed into way into the ship. They didn’t bring up the idea of a trap or serial killing spiders again. In fact, Strongarm had helped Windblade fish out her nicest polish for when they’d meet Optimus Prime. 

“We’re only a stellar cycle or two out now. I might as well help you apply it now.” Strongarm said, one day as she was finishing her shift at the helm. 

“Don’t be silly, I can do this. I’m a big bot.” Windblade said, a servo on her hip and a confident smile on her face. 

Strongarm resisted the urge to roll her eyes. “I know you  _ can _ do it, but it’ll be easier if I help you.” She pressed the autopilot button, quickly double-checking that the coordinates were still correct. “Come on, it’ll turn a four-cycle long job into one or two.” 

Windblade bobbed her head, considering the proposition. “I do struggle to get my back.” 

“It’s settled then.” Strongarm led her back to the small seat overlooking the stars. It was the only good area for them to both move around in. “Okay, let me start with your arms, they’re easiest.”

Windblade arched a brow plate, “I can do this part myself at least.”

“I’m already here, I might as well. Besides, it’s better to hold the buffer with two servos.” Strongarm grabbed the polish and the buffer as Windblade sat down. If she still disagreed, she said nothing. “Alright, hold out your right arm for me.” 

Windblade did as instructed, silently, watching Strongarm’s every move. She gulped, hoping Windblade didn’t notice. Gingerly, she took her Liege’s arm and slathered the polish over it. “I’d be more generous, but I want to make sure it will cover you in full.”

“Of course,” Windblaed said, her tone purposely flat.

Strongarm worked the polish into her arm, massaging it in, and tried not to think about how much she was touching her.  _ Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea _ . Windblade was a city speaker, an important figurehead. She was just a bodyguard. Such thoughts about how she was caressing her weren’t appropriate. She coughed, forcing herself out of her head. It was fortunate for her Windblade only got into Titan’s heads. “Right now for the buffer. We’ll just go segment by segment. 

“Works for me.” Windblade stiffened her arm more, ready for the buffer. She powered it on, and it hummed to life. When was the last time they’d used this anyway? She brought it down onto Windblade’s arm and worked it over every crease and crevice. Her metal skin was rubbed down, and pieces of it rubbed off onto her, staining her finish. She didn’t mind. 

After meticulously hitting every conceivable area of her arm, Strongarm got out a cloth and wiped away the residue. 

Windblade shined. Her finish was blinding. Strongarm smiled at the work of art, proud she had helped her look so awe-inspiringly brilliant. 

“Wow, you at good at this.” Gazing at the work Strongarm had done, she smiled. Her smile was even more brilliant. 

“Yep, now just the rest of you to go.” Strongarm chuckled to herself, as she gestured for Windblade to give her the other arm. 

Strongarm put just as much effort into this arm. Then her back. Meticulously going over every inch of Windblade to make sure she would be the shiniest bot on Earth when they arrived. As far as Strongarm was concerned she deserved nothing less. When she got to Windblade’s legs though, she had to keep her optics down. The blush that threatened to overtake her face was dangerous as she got to her upper thighs. She thanked Primus that Windblade was preoccupied with staring at the stars. 

Her blush was much worse when she got to Windblade’s torso and chest plate. Admittedly, her chest plate probably received the least attention from her, as she knew she shouldn’t be this intimate with her charge. Especially when Windblade didn’t know, could never know, what this did to her. Primus blessed her again as Windblade had relaxed into her workings so much she closed her optics, a faint smile on her face. Strongarm licked her lips as she did one final wipe down of her chest, being careful not to linger. “And done.”

Strongarm took in her final form. Windblade opened her optics, admiring herself in what she could see in her reflection from the window. She shone brilliantly. Every inch of her frame reflected any light that touches her. Strongarm felt the urge to squint but couldn’t dare bring herself to look away. “You’re beautiful,” she said, words barely passing her lips. 

Windblade smiled, “Wow, Strongarm. You outdid yourself here. I’m sorry, what’d you say?” She looked at her, completely unaware of how stunned Strongarm was. 

“Oh, uh... You look uh,” Strongarm stammered. Should she tell her what she had actually said? Did she not hear her? 

Before Strongarm’s spark could leap from her chest plate WIndblade giggled, “You did fantastic work. Don’t be shy to admit it. You always undersell yourself you know.” 

“Oh, right.” Strongarm tried to conceal her sigh as a nervous laugh. “I did okay.” 

“Thank you.” Windblade wrapped her arms around Strongarm’s chassis in a tight hug. For a femme so much smaller than herself, she was shockingly strong. Strongarm returned the hug as casually as she could, awkwardly getting her arms around Windblade to where they rested on her lower back. She didn’t want to break the embrace before Windblade, but she could only hope she didn’t feel the heat rushing to her faceplate. 

After what seemed like simultaneously far too long and agonizingly too short of a time, Windblade broke the hug. “You know, there is still some left.”

“Oh yeah, I didn’t want to run out partway through, so I tried to be conservative where I could.” She rubbed the back of her neck. 

Windblade shook her head. “Do you want me to do you?”

Strongarm blanched, barely stopping her brain module from short-circuiting before realizing what Windblade meant. “OH polish, me?” Strongarm let out another nervous bark of laughter. “There isn’t near enough left for me. I’m a bit bigger than you after all, and there isn’t even enough to do a second round on you so, it’d be silly to waste any on me.”

“It definitely isn’t enough for all of you, not by any stretch, but I could get at least some of you.” Windblade offered. Strongarm could see the circuits firing in her mind, trying to calculate how much she could get done with the little that was left of the polish. The idea of Windblade touching her like that, for any period of time was far too much for her to handle. 

“Don’t be silly, Windblade. I’m a bodyguard, utilitarian, polishing me would be frivolous.” 

Windblade gave her a small smile, “Have you never had a polish.”

“Um,” Strongarm blinked. “I don’t think so, no. Not outside of buffing out general damage so I could look presentable by your side. Never really had the time or reason to much more than that.” 

“Come on then, let me do it for you. It’s nice. Besides, what are friends for, right? I buff your back you buff mine.” Windblade laughed at her bad joke and Strongarm joined in. 

Still, would allowing Windblade to treat her like an equal, serve her like that, she didn’t know if she could allow it. “What about the autopilot? It’s already been going on longer than we normally let it.”

Windblade checked the command unit of the ship. Pressing a few buttons on the screen she looked up with a mischievous smile on her faceplate, “It’s running smooth. You’re running out of excuses.” 

“Have you ever even buffed anyone before?” Strongarm asked as Windblade approached her. 

“Only myself on occasion, but I think I got a handle on it.” Windblade put a servo on Strongarm’s chest, gently pushing her into a sitting position. “Now, do you have a preference of what gets polished?”

“Oh, uh, I hadn’t thought about it.” How could she when she was trying not to think about Windblade touching her? “I, uh, I trust your judgment. You’ll know what’ll look best.”

“Alright, I’ll focus on your chest plate then. After that, with whatever is left I’ll focus on your shoulders.”

Strongarm gulped, “Right. Sounds good.” She cringed as her voice rose an octave involuntarily. If Windblade noticed, she said nothing. 

Windblade centered herself in front of Strongarm. One pede was on the chair, the other on the floor to give her leverage and a decent angle. Strongarm had not needed to do such acrobatics when she polished her. This only stood to accentuate their extreme size difference. 

Strongarm opted to close her optics to lessen the rush of Energon through her veins. While Windblade may have been a City Speaker and a High Dignitary, she always had a tough demeanor. Maybe that was why her soft touch still surprised Strongarm. She was no fool, she had been around Windblade long enough to know that her No Nonsense attitude was mostly to scare away anyone that would take advantage of her political power. Plenty of times throughout the eons Strongarm had seen how soft, kind, and gracious Windblade’s true personality was. Still, it was shocking she would be this gentle with her. 

Due to her build, no one had treated her with such a gentle touch since she was a sparkling. In fact, she had prided herself on being able to tumble with the biggest mechs. Windblade’s digits ghosting over her chassis was very new, but not unwelcome. Slowly, she melted into the touch, allowing all the tension in her to disappear. She was in safe hands after all. 

Windblade took her time. Whether it was because she wasn’t sure of what she was doing or because she was trying to return the meticulous nature Strongarm had shown her, Strongarm didn’t know. She didn’t particularly care either. Despite her previous hesitation, this was blissfully relaxing. So much so, Strongarm soon felt herself drift off into rest mode. 

Cycles passed by the time she returned to the waking world. She shook her head, cracking her neck and groaning. Blinking her optics open, she saw Windblade at the command unit. 

“Sorry I didn’t wake you,” Windblade said when she saw her awake. “I figured you needed the rest though. Even if it wasn’t the best position.” She cringed as she saw Strongarm stretch and crane her frame to work out the kinks. 

Strongarm had to admit, it was some of the best sleep she had ever gotten. There hadn’t even been a single nightmare. “Oh, thank you.” 

“So, do you like it?” Windblade asked, a lip firmly pinched between her denta. 

“What? Oh right!” She had slept so deeply, Strongarm forgot what made her pass out in the first place. Turning back towards the window to see herself, she gasped. 

Her entire chassis shone brilliantly. With every turn and twist the light bounced off of her in a magnificent array. “...Wow…” As mesmerized as she was, she didn’t even realize she had voiced her awe. 

“Your welcome.” She turned back to see Windblade smirking at her. 

Before either of them knew what was happening, Strongarm gathered Windblade up in her arms in a tight embrace. Startled, Windblade stiffened before returning the hug, though not near as intensely. 

Realizing what she had just done, Strongarm released Windblade, blushing furiously. “I’m sorry, I’ve just never, uh, never...it feels nice. To be all shined up. Thank you. You really didn’t have to considering my position and all.” 

Windblade rolled her optics. “I’ve told you before. That hasn’t mattered to me in a long time.”

“Maybe not, but it matters to me. Besides,” Strongarm glanced at the navigation system, “By this time tomorrow, we’ll be on Earth with the rest of the Autobots. It’ll matter to them.” Windblade huffed but didn’t retort. They both knew it was true. “I’ll take a driving shift.”

Windblade got up without a word and Strongarm took her place in the seat. Today had been wonderful, but they both knew how things had to be. 

  
  


**********************************

Earth was the bluest planet either of them had ever seen. It was smaller than Cybertron sure, but it was stunning. The whole planet was covered in richer greens and blues than they had ever seen on any planet before. It had an aura of life radiating from it. Maybe that was due to the fact all the other celestial bodies in the area were barren and dead. Either way, Windblade was overjoyed at the thought. 

“Beautiful…” She said, eager to see Earth up close. 

“Yes.” Strongarm coughed, “The planet is beautiful, yes.” Windblade looked over to see her blushing. The big bot had always been embarrassed to be vulnerable. Windblade smiled. Strongarm continued. “Optimus sent the coordinates of where to land. The planet has a large local population, so we’ll have to be careful not to disrupt the city areas.” 

Windblade’s face scrunched in confusion, “Do they not have landing stripes?” 

“Apparently, not any big enough for our ship. They must all be minis.” 

“Huh, makes sense I guess, given how small the planet is.” Windblade tilted her head and suppressed a giggle at the thought of walking around a tiny city. 

“Yeah, it’s no Cybertron,” Strongarm said, dejectedly. Windblade looked back at her. 

“No, but it is home for now. It’s where we can be safe.” Windblade put a hand on Strongarm’s polished shoulder. 

She was rewarded with a small smile. “Optimus said we would be debriefed when we landed. Apparently, there is something he needs to tell us.” 

“Oh?” Windblade didn’t dare let herself hope. There was no way there could be a Titan on this small planet. Her skills wouldn’t be useful again, not here. Still, she couldn’t help but fantasize about speaking to the great beings again, about being useful again. 

“Alright, I’m going to take us in nice and slow,” Strongarm said, taking over manual landing controls. The automatic ones hadn’t worked right since the spider planet incident. Windblade suppressed a brief shudder at the thought. 

The ship rocked slightly as they entered the atmosphere, causing Windblade to hold onto the side of the ship. “Sorry,” she heard the wince in Strongarm’s voice. “It's a bit rougher than I expected.” 

The ship began vibrating violently, “Yeah, I can see that.” Windblade tried to keep the panic from her voice. This is why she preferred flying in her alt form. 

“You might want to sit down,” Strongarm said, frantically pressing buttons and flipping switches. 

“What’s wrong?” The turbulence caused her voice to waver. At least she’d rather blame it on that than the fear. 

“Atmosphere is thicker than I expected.” Strongarm, struggled with the controls. “Hold on!” 

The ship rocked viciously before Windblade could ask why. Nanoclicks passed by, but they felt like clicks with how furiously the atmosphere tried to tear their ship apart. Windblade pushed down her worry. They would be fine. They had been in worse circumstances than this before. 

A large chunk of the ship’s wing flying off and crashing into the viewing window before plummeting to the planet below dashed that hope. 

“Frag!” Strongarm swore. She never swore. This was serious. Strongarm got up and grabbed her by the shoulders. “You need to take the escape pod!” There was panic in her optics. 

“What? No, there’s not enough room for both of us. I’m a flyer, you take the pod.” Windblade tried to rip herself from Strongarm’s grasp, but she held on tighter, tighter than Windblade had ever felt. 

Strongarm shook her head, “If the atmosphere is doing this to the ship there's no telling what it could do to you. I’m built to take a hit.”

“This is more than a hit! It's thousands of feet of plummeting to the ground!” Windblade grasped Strongarm’s servos, still tightly on her shoulders. 

“I’m your bodyguard, your protector, and whether you like it or not My Liege, that’s what I’m going to do, protect you.” Before Windblade could try to reason with her, Strongarm gathered her up, bridal style. 

“Hey, put me down.” Windblade floundered. A particularly bad shake sent Strongarm to her knees, but still, she did not loosen her grip. Getting back on her Pedes Strongarm manhandled her into the escape pod, and slammed the door. 

Windblade banged on the door, barely fitting in the small space. “Strongarm, please. You can’t do this. I need you!”

“I need you to survive. I’m built for this. You’ll be okay. I’ll be okay.” The words were so soft, Windblade couldn’t be sure she heard them at all. Then she felt the pod disconnect from the ship. 

It had no windows. She had no way of telling how close to the ground she was, how close to the ground Strongarm was. There was no way to tell how long she was in the air. All she could do was pray to Primus that somehow, someway, Strongarm survived. 

After what felt like an eternity, the pod gently touched the ground. She had made it to Earth in one piece. Still, that wasn’t what she was most worried about. Yanking open the hatch she leaped from the pod.

There was no sign of the others in sight. Just as well, they weren’t her top priority right now. Transforming into her alt, she took to the sky. Atmosphere be damned, she would find Strongarm. 

The air did feel heavy on her wings as she ascended into the sky. From her new point of view, she could clearly see the wreckage from their ship. In the center was a prone figure. 

Strongarm. 

_ I’m coming. Hold on. Be online. Please, Primus, let her be online. _

She dove towards the crash, touching down next to her. Her body was littered with scrapes and scratched. Shockingly, she didn’t see any Energon leaking. Kneeling, Windblade took Strongarm’s head into her lap. Carefully, hesitantly, she reached her digits down to her neck to check for a pulse. 

The steady rhythm of her spark brought tears to her optics. She stroked Strongarm’s helm. “You’re gonna be okay. We’ll find Optimus, and you’re gonna be okay.” 

“So much for that deep polish job, huh.” Strongarm coughed. 

Windblade laughed reluctantly. “I’ll fix it. Don’t worry at all, I’ll fix it.” 

“Told you I could take a hit.” Strongarm shifted, trying to stand. 

“Don’t. We don’t know what kind of damage you have.” Windblade put a hand on her chassis, and this time, Strongarm listened. 

“So, Optimus has recruited a CitySpeaker!” Neither of them had heard anyone else. Windblade looked up to see a red and blue flyer looking down on them. 

“Starscream.” 

****************************

“You don’t want to do this,” Windblade said, an edge in her voice. “We were friends before. Do you remember that? Leave, fight us when we’re a challenge for you.” Strongarm knew it must have wounded her pride for Windblade to say such things. She always quarreled with Starscream. As dignitaries, it was always subtle, but once the war started they let things get personal. 

“Lord Megatron cares no about how difficult it is to bring him a battle advantage, just as long as it is done” He sneered at them. “If you come quietly, I’ll even let your little pet there live” 

Strongarm had had enough. Pushing away Windblade’s servo, ignoring the twinge of pain from her injuries, she got to her pedes. Standing a good head taller than Starscream, she looked dead in his optics. “Don’t. Touch. Her.” Her ventilating was ragged, but she would be damned if she let Starscream anywhere near her charge. 

“Oh no, a big bad bodyguard is threatening me.” Starscream mocked her, but she did not flinch. “You’re no match for me at your best. Do yourself a favor and back down. You’ll live a little longer.” 

“Leave her alone, Starscream!” Windblade pushed herself in front of Strongarm. Brandishing her blade, she dropped into a fighting stance. 

Strongarm quickly walked forward, at equally ground with her. “No, you want her, you take on us.” Windblade quickly shot Strongarm a worried glance. She knew she was in no shape to fight, but she could never stand by and let Windblade fight on her own. Not when she had her duties to fulfill. 

Not when she cared about her more than any other bot she had ever known. 

“This will be too- OW!” Starscream flinched, thrown backward from a blaster shot. 

A green Autobot made his way into the wreckage, a caravan close behind him. Some of the bots she recognized, other faces were new. “Get on out of here Starscream. Tell ole, Megatron, the city speaker is safe with us.” 

Starscream visibly blanched, jaw-dropping. He caught himself quickly though and steeled his expression. “You Autobots better be out of her by the time I come back with the rest of my Seekers!” He warned before transforming and flying off. 

As soon as he was out of sight Strongarm dropped back down to her knees. “Strongarm!” Windblade caught her as she slumped. 

“You’re safe. That’s what matters. You’re safe.” Even she wasn’t sure if she had said the words they were so quiet. 

“Do you have a Medic?” Windblade asked the green Mech. 

“Red Alert! We have a bot down!” He yelled. 

Though her vision was going blurry she saw a Red and White Mech approach. “I’m gonna need Energon stat! Hound, Help me get her back to base.” 

She felt them pick her up. Words of protest sat unused in the back of her throat. She couldn’t muster the words, and aside from her pride prickling the back of her mind she knew it was better this way. 

“Hold on, Strongarm.” Windblade stroked her browplate. “Just hold on. You’re gonna be okay. I-” Her words faded as did her consciousness. 

***************************

Windblade hadn’t left her side, not even to talk to Optimus. He had been an agreeable bot, meeting her at Strongarm’s bedside. He explained everything to her. The Arc. Earth. Organics called humans. Megatron having followed them here. How the war was far from over. Of course, there were no Titans here on Earth. She still offered to be of service though, as a soldier. Optimus had taken the offer gratefully. Maybe now she would be able to fight  _ with _ Strongarm, rather than always be defended. 

When she woke up that was. 

“It's been three days-Cycles.” Jazz said, walking up behind her. He had become a fast friend of hers, quick with a joke or comforting word. “Why don’t we take a drive? A flight for you I guess. Earth has some pretty cool spots I could show you. Get your mind off things for a while.” 

Windblade offered him a sad smile. “Raincheck for now. Someone has got to be here to catch her up on everything. But then you can show both of us these cool places, yeah?” 

“I’d love to.” He patted her shoulder. “It was just you two for a long time, huh?”

Windblade nodded, “Once the war got really bad, I was ordered to evacuate by the high council. They didn’t want the Cons to get their hands on a city speaker after all. All we had in reserve was a tiny little ship.” A laugh escaped her despite the situation. “Strongarm could barely stand at full height in it. She was my head guard, so it only made sense she’d come with me.” She shook her head. “I wanted to go back to Caminus. For a while, Strongarm let me, even though she was highly against it. The cons, acme for me then, and somehow she fought them all off without a scratch. She’s never like this.” 

“If she’s half as tough as you say, I’m sure she’ll pull through. Anyone that cool I need to meet.” 

“You’ll love her Jazz.” Windblade grabbed Strongarm’s servo. “I know I do.” She dropped her head, wrangling her emotions in check. She wouldn’t break down. Not again. 

“You mean that?” Windblade’s head shot up to see Strongarm, weak but awake. 

“I’ll give you two a moment before I let Ratchet and Red Alert know she’s awake.” He gave her shoulder one last squeeze before walking away. 

“Of course I mean that.” Windblade brought her other servo up to cradle Strongarm’s. “We’ve been together for Eons, how could I not love you.” 

“I’m your bodyguard, a much lower caste.” Strongarm shook her head. “It isn’t right.”

“No. We fought against the caste system. Yeah, we didn’t agree with how the cons went about it, but you know I always hated it. We’re someplace new now. There are no castes here. We can do what we want.” Windblade had to fight herself not to squeeze too hard. She desperately needed Strongarm to feel the same. 

“It's not home, though,” Strongarm said, not looking her in the optic.

“Anywhere with you is home.” Windblade caressed her cheek. “If you’ll have me.”

“Of course, my Liege.” Strongarm smiled at her, before giggling. It was a beautiful sound. 


End file.
